Interviews

The Scott and Melissa Reeves Interview – The Scott and Melissa Reeves Show (EX-Y&R & DAYS)

They were soap opera’s cutest couple, and each in their own right played a beloved character for years on daytime. I could only be talking about Scott and Melissa Reeves. As Jennifer Horton Deveraux on Days of our Lives, Melissa played the loveable heroine from 1985 to 1995, and then left the series to spend time with her husband Scott and her children. She later returned in 2000 for six years until 2006.

For ten years, Scott played Ryan McNeil on The Young and the Restless until 2001. Then with family in tow, the duo moved to Nashville where Scott went into music as one half of the country duo Blue County. And after some success, Scott and Melissa have decided to bring their knowledge of country music and soaps to the airwaves, in their upcoming new weekly radio show, The Scott and Melissa Reeves Show.

It was great to speak to the duo recently. Scott was with me in LA during our taping and Melissa back home in Nashville. We talked about the soaps, their marriage, and what to expect from their radio show, and I wanted to find out, could a return to the soaps be imminent from these two darlings of soap land?

Listen to the audio:

What is it like when you two are separated for any length of time? Is it good to have a short break?

MELISSA:

No, because we are not used to being separated. I don’t sleep well when he is not here, and I have to clean up all the poop.

MICHAEL:

Jennifer Horton just said, “Cleans up all the poop”?

MELISSA:

Yes, Jennifer Horton is a farm girl now. It’s very humbling.

SCOTT:

There is video footage on my face book where you can see Jennifer Horton cleaning up goat stalls.

MICHAEL:

So, are the two of you keeping up with your former soaps – Missy with DAYS and Scott with Y&R?

MELISSA:

Oh, yeah. If we are lying in bed at night and flipping through the channels and catch SOAPnet, we will kind of peek into what is happening with everyone and see how everyone is. It’s so fun to look.

MICHAEL:

How do you think everyone is holding up?

MELISSA:

Great! Let me tell you, Days of our Lives actors and the fans have such stamina that they are going to be just fine.

SCOTT:

That’s right, and one of my best friends is Steve Burton on GH, and we have a great rapport. Also, he kind of fills us in on what is going on in the soap world, so we have a pretty good in. When I was in LA last, I hung out with Kristoff St. John (Neil, Y&R) who I shared an apartment with on-screen for a brief time on The Young and the Restless.

MICHAEL:

To go back a minute, Scott and Melissa, you moved to Nashville so Scott could do his country music career with the duo Blue County. What has happened with that?

SCOTT:

It was crazy! When I stepped away from the acting world and took a deep breath and got a new perspective, I teamed up with my buddy Aaron Benward and created Blue County. We came out of
the gate with all guns blazing. Our first record was a top ten hit and it was kind of crazy as Missy can attest. I was instantly gone, and on a bus for three years. It was crazy and nuts. It was
one of the best experiences in my life and one of the most trying six years of my life. We signed a record deal in 2003, and as of late we went our own ways, still doing music and writing. But recently we have been working with our daughter, Emily.

MICHAEL:

Little Emily is now a budding recording artist? Oh, my God, Melissa, I remember her when she was only two!

MELISSA:

I know it is hard to watch! We think we have one year left with her. She is 17 now, and she is ready to move out and go to college. Emily is into music and singing and she has gotten her whole life rolling. It’s weird to watch because she was just two years old! Where did the time go? And to watch our son, Larry who is now 12, is just incredible.

MICHAEL:

Melissa, what was it like when you were able to watch Scott up on stage?

MELISSA:

It was so cool! I just feel like God has blessed our lives in so many areas.
My husband has been able to dabble in so many industries and be successful at every single one, and I think that’s fun, and with that comes so many new people to meet, and a whole new world to step into. It’s scary and exciting, and Scott has always given us this fun, exciting, gypsy sort of life. It has its ups and downs, but the four of us are always together. I would not have it any other way.

MICHAEL:

Any possibility you would return to DAYS as Jennifer, and you Scott as Ryan’s twin on Y&R? (Laughs)

MELISSA:

I always said, “If I were to go back to work, it would always be DAYS.” I wouldn’t feel right walking on to another set and it would be really hard. Days of our Lives is in my heart, and it just defined so much of my life when I was younger. Coming to California to work there was an amazing experience, and Ken Corday (exec prod, DAYS) was so good to me. That was my home and my second family.

MICHAEL:

So it’s never out the realm of possibility for a Jen Horton sighting?

MELISSA:

If they call…I mean, I don’t think that is where they are at that moment, but if they were to call I have a special place in my heart for DAYS, always.

MICHAEL:

I am starting a “Bring Back Jennifer Horton” campaign, not to break you and Scott up, but I will bring him out here, too. (Laughs)

MELISSA:

That’s right, and maybe he could visit another soap town in the soap world.

MICHAEL:

Scott, you were so identifiable as Ryan on Y&R. Do you still get huge fan response from that?

SCOTT:

It’s phenomenal! When I got into country music I soon came to realize that the people that listen to country music are the same people that watch daytime TV. I would be on stage… and I went from being in front of the camera to being in front of 20,000-80,000 people at one time. We got to do a lot of incredible things. We opened for pretty much all the big country acts. I wanted to go into music and initially be appreciated for the music, because I did not want people to have this tainted view of who was I from the acting world going into country music. I went in using my first name, which is Gregory. But then, as we started visiting radio stations and people would come into these conference rooms, and go, “Were you on ‘Y&R’?” And I would go, “Yeah. You caught me.” Then we would be at shows at giant festivals, and from the distance I would hear, “Ryan McNeil”. So it was phenomenal, and pretty soon I was inundated from fans who watched me on Y&R, and they were also the same fans who were requesting our songs on country radio. They remained incredibly loyal and when we are out and about they ask us, “When are you going back? We miss you.” Soap fans are pretty phenomenal.

MELISSA:

The best!

MICHAEL:

And that brings us to your new show, The Scott and Melissa Reeves Show, which is going to combine country and soap operas. So, are you two going to be the next Regis and Kelly of radio?

MELISSA:

I don’t know. Scott and I always love to work together. We did a TV movie together, which we loved, Half a Dozen Babies and Lifetime still plays it a lot. However, when we can keep our family together, we love it. We get to work together and do this radio show. My dad was a disc jockey in New Jersey his whole life, so he is thrilled that Scott and I are on the radio together. That is fun for him.

MICHAEL:

Did he give you any tips?

MELISSA:

He is a pro, and he goes back to the old days of radio. And of course, its make sure you annunciate!

MICHAEL:

So, what is going to go on when one tunes-in to The Scott and Melissa Reeves Show?

SCOTT:

There is going to be a lot of country music, and we are going to be interviewing songwriters, artists, and we will be cross-promoting soap operas because, again, it’s going to be the same people that listen to country music as well as watch soaps. We are going to be having a Michael Fairman segment!

MICHAEL:

Who? Yes, and I am going to be doing the soap news and special guest interviews with the favorites in the soap genre.

SCOTT:

It’s going to be a lot of fun. After being involved in the musical aspect of this for six years, our family was inundated with the country genre. So, we got an inside view of the country music world and what it’s like.

MELISSA:

And, I really felt it was like the soap world, a really small community of people that were so sweet and were willing to take us in.

MICHAEL:

And everybody knew everybody’s business, just like the soap world. (Laughs)

MELISSA:

Pretty much. It’s a small country town. They were so gracious to us moving here, and they embraced our family. We feel privileged to bring both worlds together in one place.

MICHAEL:

I like your concept. Will you play music on the show, as well as have guests?

SCOTT:

We will have guests playing music, and we will have giant songwriters that have written hits. A lot of the artists are soap fans themselves, and you would be surprised when we’ve gone to award shows, and how many people would say they watched the soaps.

MELISSA:

It is fun to hear who has watched, and we always are shocked to hear who they are!

MICHAEL:

So when I am out in LA interviewing the soap stars maybe you can speak with them for a… minute? (Laughs)

MELISSA:

I love it. I can’t wait.

MICHAEL:

I am going to find out all the dirt, and then we can take some calls from your listeners?

MELISSA:

Yes. I will take some calls and talk to my soap friends!

SCOTT:

If you turn on the show it will peak your interest, and it’s going to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

MICHAEL:

Will you have some fun interaction between the two of you?

MELISSA:

We are best friends, and we work together all the time. People say to me, “I would go crazy if I worked with my spouse all the time!” We have had 20 years of a really blessed marriage, and not that it’s always been easy, but we pushed through it and you know what, it’s been worth it. It’s worth it all. And the longer we are together, the more we love each other, and our friendship has grown to this incredible life together. I always think if people can get through the hard times when they are really young, then it can be great. We are having such a great time in our life right now.

MICHAEL:

Back in the day, every one called you “soaps cutest couple”!

MELISSA:

Now we are the cutest couple with a few wrinkles. (She laughs)

SCOTT:

I have been so blessed to have a wife like Melissa. She tells it like it is, and tells you what you need to hear because she loves you. She has no bones about it. She won’t let me compromise. Melissa loves her family more than anyone I have seen in my life, and she will do anything to protect her family, and to protect me.

MICHAEL:

Missy, do you stay in touch with Matt Ashford (Ex- Jack, DAYS)?

MELISSA:

No, but we are on facebook and I love it. Now Scott has got me started with Twitter. I am officially a Twit. (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

Jack and Jennifer were one of the best soap couples of all time, and the circus wedding, one of the best nuptials ever. What did you think about the wedding?

MELISSA:

Oh yes, it was amazing, but when we were practicing my whole dress ripped in the back and came open.

SCOTT:

We have a picture of that; where Melissa was on a pole that went up in the air, and this was at Universal Studios, and her dress popped all the way down the back.

MELISSA:

They had to sew me back into it. It was unbelievable.

MICHAEL:

People loved that wedding so much; that on the Internet you can still get the vows.

SCOTT:

We have seen that!

MICHAEL:

It was one of the beautiful written poems… Now there is no rain…..

MELISSA:

I loved it, too. I thought it was a great story and the writers who wrote it, got it. They got us, but writer’s change, and when they came in they did not get us as well. So, it’s always a little bit of a struggle, but Matthew and I worked really well together. He was so crazy, and I was not so crazy. Matthew brought out a funnier side of me that I did not know I had, and it just clicked, and it worked. We had our kids at the same time and we all knew each other and it was just a good, good mix. The funny thing about those vows is; that they told me I have to memorize these lines, but those vows are so long that they said I could read them. I said, “I don’t know if I want to read them.” I get there the next morning and they go, “Oh, no. You can’t read them. You absolutely have to have them memorized.” So literally, within 30 minutes I had to memorize them and they were some of my favorite lines. It was this beautiful long poem.

SCOTT:

Missy does not give herself the credit she is due, and she is a great actress. Every night she would be saying her lines and saying to me, “How am I going to do this?” And I would say, “You do it every time!”

MELISSA:

And I would usually cry!

SCOTT:

And she would usually cry, and they would give her so much, but they knew she would be able to do it.

MICHAEL:

Melissa, at one point, was carrying the show. And at one point, she was on everyday with huge amounts of dialog!

MELISSA:

But, once you know it and do it, its fun. It’s that initial sitting down and looking at it thinking, “Oh, no. How in the world am I going to fit this in my brain?”

MICHAEL:

Did you ever critique each other’s work when you were on DAYS, Melissa, and when Scott was on Y&R?

MELISSA:

Well there were certain times when I would want him to watch certain days.

SCOTT:

If you think about it, the person who is going to give me the most honest response and answer is my wife. So we would sit each other down if we were concerned about certain things like, how we were going to pull something off, or ask, “Can you watch this and let me know what you think?” And inevitably with Missy, I would go, “Are you kidding me? What was wrong with that?”

MELISSA:

I think you are biased.

MICHAEL:

Ryan on Y&R, when he dies….oh, hankies!

MELISSA:

It was so sad.

SCOTT:

It was very sad.

MELISSA:

My mother-in-law still will not watch it, because it was so sad.

SCOTT:

You had to watch me die. It was a combination of great writing and a sad couple of days on the set, and you know when you are on a show like that you are part of a family. I was saying goodbye to some of my best friends. So you find yourself thinking it is so real. Ending a run like that, a lot of times you are going, “Man, they wrote some of the best stuff at the end!”

MICHAEL:

Well, this is what bothers me about that: The soaps always give the actor who is being written off this great material at the end, and during their run they seldom would give them something worthy of their talents. It’s the consolation prize!

SCOTT:

Right, “We are going to give you some of your best work, because you are leaving!”

MELISSA:

Right, usually your best work is on your last day!

SCOTT:

I would think, “Oh, man! I wish I could have had some of this throughout the years.”

MELISSA;

It’s hard, and we always say, “We would not want the writer’s job; to come up
with stuff every single day to make it interesting.”

MICHAEL:

Ever pinch yourself how cool that the two of you were on Y&R and DAYS, two of the top soaps of all-time?

MELISSA:

Yes, and especially now, when it’s so hard for so many of our friends to get work. I think that we were very fortunate, and you can never take it for granted. It’s a hard industry and hard to get into.

MICHAEL:

So Melissa, are you fine being an at home mom, or are you itching to do something creative?

MELISSA:

I feel I am always doing something creative. I love being home. I am sewing or taking pictures, and that side of you never stops working. There are days when I am cleaning up the stall and poop where I go, “Gosh, I miss sitting in that make-up chair and getting my hair and make up done.” (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

I can see why…. being pampered in the make-up chair or… being out with the poop.

MELISSA:

I know, but I had my time to do that and if it happens again one day… great. But this is great for me, too. It’s good to clean poop sometimes, Michael. It’s humbling.

SCOTT:

There are some friends of ours starting a new theatre group in Nashville, because there are incredible talents in Nashville; actors and singers who want to work. So, Missy went and met with friends who want us to be involved in any degree we can be.

MICHAEL:

Do you miss LA?

MELISSA:

I love the both Nashville and LA. I love that our children had the experience to live in both places. The one thing we always compare…Southern hospitality is a plus, but then you go in Los Angeles and people tell it like it is. And in the south they tell it like it is with this sweet little smile! (She laughs) We are gypsies and I am not kidding. If we felt like we wanted or needed to move to Montana, we would go. We drive everywhere. Our kids have been in the car more hours than not in their life. I want them to experience people from all over our country. I don’t ever want them to feel like they live in one place, so they cannot pick up and go.

SCOTT:

Missy’s dream, and I could be there eventually one day; it’s her Airstream day. She wants to get in a car and go and live in an Airstream.

MELISSA:

I call it my Airstream dream, and the whole thing mortifies the kids.

MICHAEL:

I am mortified! What happened to you, Jennifer Horton?

MELISSA:

We were driving for two months this summer and every time we would pass an Airstream, I would go, “Airstream.” (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

On your radio show, what country acts would you love to interview? I would love you to have Keith Urban on!

SCOTT:

Maybe husband and wife!

MICHAEL:

Oh, yeah his wife, Nicole Kidman, definitely her, too. (Laughs)

SCOTT:

They are so sweet. We see them. They live right around the corner from us. They hang out, and that is what is cool about Nashville. We live in a town called Leipers Fork and you can go there and just be you. It’s the closest to a normal life these people can have. And you will see Nicole Kidman jogging down the street, and they will be at the coffee place, and over here is Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. We were walking out of our grocery store and in walk Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. Michael was a huge Y&R fan, and I had met him before

MICHAEL:

Who would you love to have on your show and love to ask a question?

SCOTT:

I would love to have Dolly Parton. She is an amazing songwriter.

MELISSA:

And I am a long time Trisha Yearwood fan.

SCOTT:

And Trisha Yearwood is a long time fan of Missy.

MELISSA:

Well, her mom is the sweetest, sweetest fan ever from DAYS.

MICHAEL:

Anyone in the new country you would like to interview?

MELISSA:

Taylor Swift, because Emily would swallow her tongue.

MICHAEL:

You are not going to do a “Kanye” to Taylor Swift on your show?

MELISSA:

Oh, good grief, no!

SCOTT:

I think it’s sad, because obviously Kanye is insecure for some reason.

MELISSA:

If I was his mom, I would give him a spanking.

MICHAEL:

Who should I interview?

MELISSA:

Of course, everyone from DAYS!

SCOTT:

It would be hard to pick everyone out, because we love everyone in the soap world. They are so great and everybody knows each other. Martha Byrne comes to mind. We have so much in common with anybody in the soap world, and it would be fun reminiscing and to talk to them.

MICHAEL:

Well, it’s been great chatting with you again, and I guess the three of us will be talking it up soon on your new show! It’s coming soon.

Hi I live in Mayfield ky. Its 20 miles from Paducah ky. Watching the telethon of stars tonight an seen your beautiful family Scott & Melissa. Enjoyed seeing your husband & daughter preform. Your daughter has become a beautiful & talented young lady. She has two great role models.
Wish I could be at the telethon tonight but unfortunately in sick . Maybe next year.
Great job Emily!!! Very beautiful with an amazing voice.